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The Circle
"To Achieve Human Flourishing through Cooperation and Science." - Mission Statement The Expanding Circle, commonly referred to as the Circle of Friends or (less-commonly) the Collective, is an expansionist collectivist nation in the far eastern region of Soi, ruled by the organization known as The Technocracy. The Circle focuses heavily on conquest by peaceful conversion of the local population when possible and pushing scientific progress. * The Circle is also the only nation that openly invites Immortals to immigrate. * They offer safety, peace, a high standard of living, and potentially leadership roles. History The Encircled Nations The Shining Kingdom The Philosopher King established a military power in what is now the Inner Circle, establishing the capital city of Camelot (Ascendance) around the year 0, intending it to be a "shining city on a hill". Iron Spire It was during this period that the Great Engineer began work on Iron Spire, under the employ of the Philosopher King. The Everfree Confederacy The Woodwalker formed a group of her own in what is now known as the Everfree Province The League of Eastern Nations During the First Goran War, the nations rushed to band together in what is known as the Eastern League. Kushan and The Stone Kingdom were also invited to the League, but declined with several other nations. A number of the declining nations were later absorbed or fell during the Great War. The Classical Era For other nations, see Classical Era The First Talet War See First Talet War for more The Second Goran War The Immortals step down The Great War Reconstruction Economy The economy of the Expanding Circle is not ideologically based, instead relying on whatever tools are most applicable in a given sector of the economy. Certain sectors are market-based, while other sectors use centralized planning, and yet other sectors use participatory economics. Industrial production is concentrated in the Inner Circle and strives toward zero marginal cost. Agricultural production is more commonly found in the Outer Circle. The Technocracy provides advancements in agricultural tools and techniques to increase yields while taking a portion of the new surplus as payment in trade to feed the more urbanized Inner Circle. Both outsiders and members of the Inner Circle have commented that the Final Success of the Circle will lead to a lack of barbarians that can make up the Circle's agricultural deficits. This is a known issue. Government The Technocracy Established by the Immortals early in the Circle's history; the Technocracy is a system of experts and which run the collectivist services of the Friendlies. Immortals The Expanding Circle is one of the few nations with a public policy regarding the Immortals. While Immortals are valued as advisors and ambassadors, they are barred from entering the Technocracy. Culture The Circle has been known to have a very rationalist culture, which tends to eschew the concept of tradition in favor of practicality. The cultural aesthetic is, however, very conscious of aesthetics and the general utility of things. Collectivism The Expanding Circle is one of the two most collectivist nations on the planet (the other being the Goran). The Circle, especially in the inner circle, has been known to eschew concepts of individualism which seem natural to other peoples. Concepts of privacy, modesty, and private property (not to be confused with personal property) are minimized to the point that many Encircled live in communal spaces with communal facilities. Many in the Inner Circle do not even raise their own children personally, leaving them in the care of specially-trained experts. This, of course, means that there are effectively no orphaned, neglected, or abused children in the Circle of Enlightenment, but also no strong parental relationships. This behavior has shocked outsiders, especially in the Ashed and the Broken Kingdoms, and has even lead to the misleading colloquial name, "The Collective", but it should be noted that there is also a strong focus on the worth of the individual. Encircled society works to serve the individual, and the people are guided by the Technocracy to support each other. Specialization The Encircled believe that everyone has a special talent, or "passion", which they both enjoy and excel at. Most citizens spend their entire lives training and working in the field of their passion. For instance, someone with a passion for farming fruit might receive special training, be given jobs in various orchards, and eventually be given their own orchard to manage, spending their entire life working with that one thing. The abnormal side of this is that, once someone develops a passion, they generally stop pursuing any other skills or ventures. Said fruit farmer might have no idea how to build houses or construct tools, or anything not related to orchards, and may not even know how to run any sort of farm other than an orchard. A significant number of Friendlies, especially in the inner circle, do not even know how to find and prepare their own food. Names The Encircled are known to have odd names which seem to talk about who they are and what they do. Their first name is a personal name based on some notable trait about the individual, such as appearance, abilities, and notable personality traits. The last is more of a title, or "common name", which is given later in life based on their psychological profile. For example, "Checkmate the Thinker" was named "Checkmate" for his aptitude for strategy gaming at a young age, and was determined to have a "Thinker" type personality. This tradition was developed early on in order to create a sense of familiarity between strangers: common names can create automatic associations based on personalities. Encircled from the outer-circle and immigrants may also have other, more localized names, such as the Kushani names of Mother's Gate, or from other traditions. Religion and Spirituality The Expanding Circle is officially, a secular power, with atheism accounting for 70% of the population, and deists of native or foreign faiths account for the other 30%; mostly in the Outer Circle. The Technocracy has an open policy of opposing Immortal Worship, which has been seen as not only contrary to everything the society has stood for since the League of Eastern Nations, but adverse to any given Immortal's mental health. The Technocracy does not provide legal exceptions for religious traditions, and the scholars of Camelot University have been known to outright reject and even show animosity towards religious belief. While the Technocracy-Run general education system of the Circle does not typically teach that religion itself is false, it does teach many concepts of rationality, science, and multiculturalism which tend to discourage religious thought simply through being learned. There is an occult movement in which some atheistic groups have formed churches of their own within the Circle; the most notable being the Temple of Science in Ironspire from which the movement began. The movement cites the positive effects of religious behaviors on mental health, and has been closely studied by Camelot University's Occult Department. The Encircled are known to be a very rational people and tend to reject superstition to a point; having been taught in school that everything has an explanation, even if that explanation hasn't been discovered yet. Thus superstition and belief in that which cannot be shown is very uncommon. The Circle does, however, believe in things like Immortals and Biomorphs, which have been directly observed and are taught about in school. Cuisine "Never eat that which can fear being eaten" The Circle has a large and varied diet, however unlike most other nations, the Circle eschews the eating of animals with higher brain functions. Most mammals are only farmed for milk, chickens are primarily farmed for eggs. Technology The Expanding Circle is known for their heavy focus on applied science and technology, using entire sections of their civilization for experimentation at any one time. Most formal research and documentation is done in Camelot and Ironspire, where large teams of researchers work together to constantly improve social and technical fields respectively. Unlike The Academy, Circle technology is developed with the intention for mass-distribution, and is "perfected" in lab conditions before being dispersed to areas where it appears to be most appropriate. For instance, Lektrik is commonplace in Ironspire, but networks also exist in Camelot and Stoneport, and the underlying technology has been deployed as far as Mother's Gate. Expansionism "The farther we spread, the less suffering there is in the world" (Expanding missionary) The Technocracy considers it their moral imperative to expand: they are attempting to build a utopian society, and to not expand this effort would be selfish. The Encircled are also in constant need of resources as they expend much of it in order to raise their standard of living and expand into neighboring regions, and a large, ever-growing population and region of influence is necessary in order to keep up with demand. The Circle is one one of the great Immortal civilizations of Soi and unique among the expansionist nations in the sense that it favors non violent tactics of expansion and conquest. Using the funds and resources normally allocated for warfare, the Encircled often attempt to uplift unclaimed civilizations to higher standards of living with education and building of infrastructure, turning them into an ideal trading-partner, before eventually attempting to absorb them into the outer circle. They often build schools within other nations, educating the children of a nation in reading, arithmetic, history, and science, which eventually shows the usefulness of the Encircled way of life, slowly converting the young minds who will eventually replace the old. The ultimate stated goal of the Circle of Enlightenment is to convert and assimilate every human being on the surface of Soi so that the world may one day have not only peace, but "universal human flourishing through friendship and science." Inner Circle The inner circle are the areas of Enlightenment that are attached to the infrastructure of the circle. These territories mainly are the areas around IronSpire, Luminous, and Everfree Outer Circle The outer circle of the Enlightenment are the areas yet to have infrastructure added to them. Military "We fight when we need to, when we have to. End the fight quickly and protect the people" (Enlightenment General) The Encircled military is primarily a defensive one, and relies on reservists to bolster its numbers in times of active conflict. The Circle of Shields The Circle of Shields comprises the bulk of the standing army, which defends the borders and assists in internal policing operations. The Unfriendly Forces The Unfriendly Forces are a violent, aggressive, low-tech, fast response force for dealing with threats outside of the Circle's existing borders. Examples of Unfriendly operations range from rooting out bandits to repelling Tallet footholds in strategic areas. They were originally established and are thus mostly specialized for crippling Tallet forces, and excel at moving into an area quietly and running counter-recon operations and officer assassinations. The Secret Army The twin forces of Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon are secretive high-tech forces which sit in wait of an actual, large-scale conflict. They are not talked about often, and very little is known about them. Foreign Affairs Trade Due to complicated politics within the GTC, Friendly relations with them are sporadic at best, meaning the majority of their trade is with Kushan and the Broken Kingdom. The Friendlies are known for setting up odd trades, such as pound-for-pound trade of food like apples and oranges, or their "Steel for Iron" program, and for using pre-negotiated mutual agreements for food supplies during famines. Their primary exports are culture, food, processed materials, and trinkets. Apples and Oranges One of the best known trade policies in that region is the "Apples and Oranges" agreement. The Friendlies, having ideal conditions for it, grow large quantities of Oranges and other tropical fruits in their warm, northern orchards, year round. The Kushani and Broken Kingdom climates are far more suited for temperate orchards, and grow fruits like Apples at the opposite times of year with respect to one another. Normally, this would mean that only a small variety of fruits would be available to the Friendlies, and that the Broken Kingdoms and Kushan would only have seasonal access to these foods. After the end of the First Goran War, the Friendlies used their newfound power as a unified trade block to negotiate agreements with their neighbors, namely, Kushan and the Broken Kingdoms. These agreements have the Friendlies facilitating a massive food-trade route running from the Broken Kingdoms to the Kushani Border, where fruits are traded pound-for-pound, often on credit. (TODO: explain further) Due to this agreement, all Eastern Block nations have access to a wide variety of fruits, year round. Diplomacy Outreach The Circle of Enlightenment is best known through their Missionary program. Military Intervention The Enlightened military is primarily a defensive one, however, the Unfriendly Forces and Pirate Corps have been known to travel far outside the Circle's borders to intervene in existing conflicts. Most often, this is to keep peace in the other areas of the Eastern Block, but they have been known to move further to interfere with Tallet operations and to prevent them from taking areas of tactical importance. Military Alliances By the strictures of the alliance between the Broken Kingdom and Circle of Enlightenment, a small army of six thousand Armor Riders is kept reserved for assisting the Friendly forces in turning back incursions by major nations in the Eastern Block area. The leader of this force (typically a Royal Heir, the specific one dependent on the month it is deployed) is under specific orders from the Council of Royals to never interfere with battles between lesser nations nor to enter battle unless the commander of the Enlightened forces joins the front lines (either with their own men or with the Riders is acceptable). In the event of mass incursions, the full might of the Armored Riders is brought to bear however mustering the entirety of the Riders takes significant amounts of time. Reactions to Other Nations The Enlightened are generally easygoing and peaceful, and would rather everyone just work together and get along. Kushan "They're great, but they'd be better off joining us..." The Friendlies and the Kushani people see each other as misguided, but good people. The Circle is the primary trading partner and military ally. Stone Kingdom "Nice people, but a little bit primitive for my tastes. Still, if you're into that rough sort of celebration..." The Stone Kingdom is the second biggest trading partner of the Circle of Friends, and a trusted ally of the Technocracy. There are some problems with cultural differences, particularly following the Great War, and they generally do not like the culture and tech-level that the Truest King has pushed on his people. Eastern Block Unclaimed "Well, if you don't want to join us, do you at least want to be friends?" The third-largest singular group that the Friendlies trade with. They generally have positive relations with the Technocracy, which often sends people to help them. Tallet "The greatest threat to humanity. Their eventual destruction is the number one long-term military priority." The Technocracy has been at war with the Tallet Empire virtually since contact. They are polar opposites, and their goals are mutually unacceptable to each other: the Technocracy exists to serve humanity, while humanity exists to serve the Tallet Empire. Ashed "Good work ethic, good technology, decent culture too, but your government is worse than Democracy." The Friendlies use the Ashed as an example of how society should not be run, and Friendlies and Ashed . They think of the Ashed as one of the great travesties of Immortal rule and hope that one day the Ashed will become more like them. The Ashed being far away, this is not possible, so they've resigned to just send missionaries and treat them as an ally for now. The Friendlies and the Ashed have never been at war, or even much more than skirmishes between Unfriendlies and Mercenaries. Goran "Everything would be great if they weren't trying to kill us." The Technocracy has repeatedly pushed for peace with the Goran, even after the Goran-Friendly Genocide Campaigns. At times, they've been allies, and at other times, they have been at war. The Friendlies do not WANT to fight the Goran, and would actually appreciate them as a fighting force against the Tallet, but the Goran are nigh-impossible to negotiate with. At their current point, the Technocracy considers the Goran's existence to be contrary to the very existence of modern civilization. They are actively working to change this, and see The Bard as their greatest potential ally in this endeavor, and have been known to send her gifts. Woag "A barbaric culture of villages in the North. Not really a threat, or even a major faction, but their more destructive interests can be channeled to productive means..." The Technocracy doesn't think much of the Woag. They show up, trade, engage in revelry, and contribute to the local economy, and they don't typically attack. The Technocracy DOES have regulations against the trade of goods stolen from non-enemy factions, but the Tallet, Northguard, and often the Goran are not protected by this regulation. It is not worth noting that Woag ships leaving Friendly ports have a high propensity for immediately striking on supply lines and other weak points that the Tallet believed to be unknown to them. This has both hindered Tallet expansion and means that the Woag are distracted from other nations. Nobody has really commented on this, so it's not worth noting. GTC "Who?" The average Friendly doesn't think much of the GTC, and the Technocracy has very little in the way of stated policy on them. To them, they are just another faction which sometimes conflicts with them. They are considered to be a negative influence long-term, but not a major problem. Category:Nations *